Konoko's Decision
by IBB
Summary: (PG just in case) A sad little fic about what was probably going through Konoko's head during the encounter at the end of the 13th level. I'm really proud of it, so read and review, please!


Konoko's Decision by IBB  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, or the storyline, really. This is just my take off of what happens in the final phase of the second-to-last level of ONI. WARNING: LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS!!! Also: " " = regular speech; Ð Ð = thoughts. And if there are any marks that don't look like they're supposed to be there, blame it on the fact that I can't get any of my fics to upload properly....  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Konoko's footsteps echoed through the hall. She heard the door she had just gone through lock behind her. She knew there was no turning back. Then again, that's what she had been prepared for. This was it; it was either her, or Griffin. And there was no way that she'd let it be the latter.  
  
She opened the next door and went through.  
  
"You can't escape me. You saw to that," Konoko stated.  
  
"You are a failed experiment, a calculated risk. I have been prepared for this since day one," Griffin answered. A strange device rose up from the floor below. In the center of the contraption was a few hunks of deformed metal along with a few wires. Upon closer inspection, the object seemed to look... humanoid....  
  
"Shinatama has been monitoring you since your first stages of development," Griffin continued. Konoko's jaw dropped when she realized what the object in the middle of the contraption was. "Nobody knows you better. I have hooked her up to this armed pod. You don't stand a chance. You never did."  
  
"All systems armed and active," the ex-android, now merely just a few scraps of metal and wires, said in a broken monotone.  
  
"Shinatama! No..." Konoko exclaimed, aghast.  
  
"I'm sorry," Shinatama replied, with a hint of sadness in her warped voice.  
  
ÐA deadly brain,Ð Konoko thought. ÐHe's turned her into a deadly brain. That bastard!Ð  
  
Konoko looked around her. Lasers moved back and forth on the platforms around her. She looked on the platforms and found that each had a computer console on it.  
  
ÐSo that's what I have to use to deactivate it... her...Ð Konoko thought sadly. She took a deep breath and looked over at the platform to her left. ÐOh well... here goes nothing...Ð  
  
She waited until the lasers came to the edge of the platform on her side, and then just as they were moving away, she sprinted after them and stopped in front of the console, which faced away from the armed pod. She punched in the code, and the picture of some random computer wiring turned into a picture of her ex-pink-haired companion, Shinatama. She held back her tears, then sprinted back over to the platform she had started on and repeated the procedure.  
  
The first pass went off without a hitch.  
  
"Level one security mode defeated. Engage level two," Shinatama intoned after the fourth console had been deactivated.  
  
ÐHm... I wonder how many passes I'm going to have to make?Ð Konoko wondered idly to herself as she waited to see what the new set of lasers would look like and for the original picture to show up on the screen again. She suddenly realized that she was somehow right in the path of a laser sensor. She jumped back but realized that she was too late as she heard the sound of a screaming cannon being fired. She cursed under her breath and tried to deactivate the console before the thing reached her. She then carefully ran to the next console, attempting to avoid the blasted cannon and the lasers. Eventually it gave up following her and fell to the ground.  
  
Right after she had deactivated the third console and was about to dash to the last one, she heard something that made her freeze in her tracks.  
  
"Kill me, Konoko!" she heard Shinatama cry.  
  
Konoko risked a look at the ex-android, but, unfortunately, she was at such an angle that she couldn't see what little remained of the android very clearly. Holding back her tears, she timed her run and rushed to the final console. But Shinatama's words echoed in her mind as she deactivated the console...  
  
"Level two mode compromised. Engage level three," Shinatama intoned. Konoko jumped back to avoid getting caught in the path of a sensor again, but this time there was none. She carefully moved forward and deactivated the console again, and then observed the "battlefield." She timed again, and rushed over to the next console. Just as she was getting ready to go to the next one, she heard Shinatama say something else which made her freeze again.  
  
"Let me out!"  
  
Konoko felt tears well up in her eyes, and this time she didn't bother to try to keep them back. She rushed forward, no longer caring whether she tripped the sensors or not. She flew through a barrage of plasma blasts and screaming cannons, but she didn't care. Shinatama kept saying things like the first two things she had said, as well as "I'm sorry, so sorry." Konoko no longer cared. It was as if she was no longer part of that world, as if she had been killed and become an oni, a spirit. And a vengeful one at that...  
  
She had just deactivated the final console and was down to her last hypo when suddenly the barrage stopped.  
  
"Warning!" Shinatama intoned. "Target neutralization failed. Daoden symbiote organism detected. Engaging Omega security mode."  
  
Shinatama turned around. She broke a few pipes and turned them into arms and legs, and then lurched out of the pod toward Griffin. Konoko noticed that Griffin was distracted, and so began to sneak up behind him.  
  
"Emergency override Griffin Alpha 0. Emergency override... nÐno, stay back!" Griffin exclaimed, and pulled out a pistol, getting ready to fire.  
  
Konoko chuckled knowingly to herself. She knew why his commands weren't working; just moments ago, she had read a notice saying that all emergency overrides from Alpha 0 to Omnimacron or whatever were deactivated.  
  
Griffin waited a moment as the ex-android lurched forward, and then fired. Shinatama jerked, and then fell forward. By then Konoko was behind Griffin. Konoko made an amused sound and smirked. Griffin, startled, whirled around to face her. Konoko rushed forward before he had a chance to react and did a kicking disarm to Griffin's face, gaining control of his pistol. She backed up, keeping her newly acquired weapon trained on him, as he stood up.  
  
Her smirk turned into a sneer as she said, "Gotcha."  
  
"This is a bad idea. Put the gun down," Griffin ordered, facing her.  
  
"I'm a rogue agent, haven't you heard? Very dangerous. I'm exactly what you wanted me to be," Konoko retorted.  
  
"So how does this end?"  
  
"For you? Badly."  
  
"That's your call. You can pull the trigger or you can walk away. It's up to you," Griffin told her.  
  
Konoko got ready to pull the trigger.  
  
ÐWhy should I let him live?Ð she thought. ÐWhat has he done for me that would give me a reason to NOT pull the trigger? He's killed my best friend twice now, and even attempted to turn her against me twice. He implanted this THING into me. He kept my whole frickin' past a secret from me. He's killed my uncle, my only living relative who I was starting to get close to. There's no good reason why I should let him live.Ð  
  
Konoko increased the pressure on the trigger.  
  
ÐOni means spirit. But it can also mean demon or ogre.Ð  
  
Konoko made a surprised sound and relaxed her hold on the trigger. She narrowed her eyes.  
  
ÐGriffin thinks I'm some sort of demon or monster. That's what the bastard wants me to be. Killing him will only reinforce that belief,Ð Konoko thought.  
  
ÐWhat should I do?Ð  
  
She looked to the gun with a look of detachment. Slowly, one by one, her fingers peeled themselves from the gun's handle. As the last one released the gun, gravity took over and pulled the gun down to the ground with a clatter. She looked Griffin in the eye and lowered her hand. She then walked toward him and pushed past him. As she pushed past him, their eyes met for a brief second, but she looked away. She thought she saw something glitter out of the corner of her eye as she passed Shinatama, and paused to look.  
  
To her surprise, she saw something that she never thought she'd see on Shinatama, or any other android for that matter.  
  
Running from her oddly-colored eyes down her ruined cheeks were... tears....  
  
Konoko knew she'd never forget what she saw... never in her whole life would she forget that look...  
  
"Shinatama..." she whispered, and felt one last tear fall down her cheek. She abruptly looked away, and sniffed.  
  
ÐI'm doing that bastard a huge favor. This is MUCH more than he deserves.Ð  
  
She walked a little further, then turned back and glared at Griffin's back.  
  
"I'm not the monster you thought I would be," she said, coldly. "Just remember what I am: the woman YOU betrayed because you weren't BIG enough to take responsibility for your own actions."  
  
And then she turned and ran off to find her brother Muro, and settle things once and for all.  
  
Griffin watched her go out of the corner of his eye, and then walked back behind his desk.  
  
"I need three black ops units ready and waiting by my helicopter in five minutes."  
  
"But sir, what about Konoko?" someone replied.  
  
"She is not the problem any longer. The only problem now... is her brother Muro."  
  
*The End!*  
  
Well, what do you think? This is a reformatted version of the original story, and I actually like this version better. It's my first and probably only Oni fic, so I hope you liked it! Sayoonara! 


End file.
